The Bailout - Coming this January

I ran into this _super_ hilarious pseudo ad about the Big Three (automaker) bailout (thanks to my brother).

The picture of the ad is posted at the website of The Beast (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Beast) at http://buffalobeast.com/133/bigthree.jpg . The main page of the newspaper is of course http://buffalobeast.com.

Ps. This post was sent directly from Picasa. I want to check if/how email posting to Blogger works like this.. And realize that at least there's no way to make hyperlinks (as that should be done in HTML/Rich text, which Picasa email doesn't support). Hopefully at least the attached photo shows decently.

How this happened

As I just wrote in Finnish the Obama victory is an incredible example of the power of individuals to impact huge issues. Like Obama has said so many times: Ordinary people can do extraordinary things, when they work together. That's what this was and is all about.

The blogosphere and the web are full of excellent analysis on this and so many other related issues so I won't even try to make a thorough analysis in this post.

Actually, I just wanted to share this email from Obama to give those of you who haven't subscribed to his email list one glimpse into how the campaign has been run.

From: Barack Obama
Date: 2008/11/5 2:20 am
Subject: How this happened
To: Jaakko Helleranta


Jaakko --

I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history.

And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack

Wonderful inspiration. And a beautiful example of The Long Tail at work. .. More on that later.

P.S. In case you're interested: My Obama-related bookmarks are tagged Obama in Delicious. I warmly encourage you to start using one of these social bookmarking (excellent short video explaining social bookmarkin by Common Craft) services.

Kuinkas tässä näin kävi?

Obaman voitto on hurja esimerkki yksiloiden mahdollisuuksista vaikuttaa ratkaisevalla tavalla suuriin kokonaisuuksiin. Kampajan ammensi internetin suomia mahdollisuuksia rakentaen ikiaikaisen amerikkalaisen paikallistason osallistuuden päälle.

Voimaistamisen (empowerment) ja myos demokratian ideaalien riemuvoitto.

Kuten Pleksille kirjoitin, on ollut valtavan inspiroivaa nähdä tätä vaalityota ja omalla, varsin pienellä panoksella, osallistua siihen. Erinäisiä hurjia tarinoita kampanjaan osallistumisesta kuunnellessa tekee todella mieli painottaa oman osallistumisen vähäisyyttä. Vaan samalla ymmärtää hyvin sen mitä Kampanja on toitottanut kaiken aikaa: että pienista puroista on tämä suuri virta kasvatettu. Tästä oiva esimerkki seuraavassa lontoonmurteisessa postauksessa.

Palaan paremmalla ajalla niin fiiliksiin kuin eri näkokulmiin. Nyt sorvin ääreen, kun (tunnustaa täytyy, että) duunit jäivät eilen aika vähälle.

Pitkä häntä rulettaa.

Uuden ajan alku

Huojentunut, hyvä fiilis.

Siihen on helppo tiivistää tuntemukset tässä vaiheessa (klo 22.55 EST - "itäistä talviaikaa") kisakatsomossamme Washington DC:n Capitol Hill kaupunginosassa kolmisentoista korttelia Capitolista suoraan itään.

Oma ennustukseni Obaman n. 344 valitsijamiesäänestä reilun viikon takaa vaatinee hieman justeerausta ylöspäin. Florida näyttää paremmalta kuin osasin toivoa.

Fox News on juuri ennustanut Virginian valitsijamiesäänien menevän Obamalle ja hetkeä aikaisemmin New Mexicon. Floridassa tilanne Obamalla on kaulaa liki 300 tuhatta ääntä, kun kaikista äänistä on laskettu liki 90 prosenttia.

... klo 22.59 myös CNN julisti Virginian Obamalle ... Tämä on historiallinen voitto, joka nosti aikamoisen kiljunnan katsomossa. Ensimmäistä kertaa sitten 60-luvun alun punaniskakotiosavaltiomme on päätynyt demokraateille.

... klo 23.01: CNN julistaa Obamasta presidentin!

Nyt täytyy käydä korkkaamaan skumppaa - tai ainakin uusi kalja -- päivityksiä myöhemmin.

--- EDIT: klo 23.52 EST ---

Vau. Mielentöntä. Fiilis on todella katossa ja tapahtuman historiallisuus alkaa vasta pikkuhiljaa hamottua, vaikka skenaariota on maisteltu jo viikkoja.

Tulosten ensianalyysi näyttää vahvasti silä, mitä eniten toivoin; että vaalien tulos antaisi vahvan mandaatin uudelle suunnalle. Että sen syvin ydin nousisi niiltä väestön osilta, jotka ovat olleet joko historiallisesti polliittisessa varjossa tai jotka edustavat maan tulevaisuutta. Ja näin siinä näyttää käyvän:

96% mustien äänistä
65-68% nuorten, latinojen JA ensiäänestäjien äänistä (ei siis vain nuoret, vaan vastikään rekisteröityneet)

Nyt alkaa Obaman puhe. Lisää päivityksiä myöhemmin.

Don't vote...

... unless you care.


Video embedded: 5 Friends Uncensored

The last few months have really brought to the surface some of the best things about this big country.

But more on those l8ter. Now to the election nite watch!

Excitement in the air

I have to say that I'm still quite surprised that the U.S. presidential elections have affected me so much. To many it may not seem like a surprise -- after all, I've lived here for five and a half years already and lived through the grim times that America has seen under the Bush administration. If that get's all the rest of the world excited then why not me?

But I'm still surprised. Five years back I "promised" myself that I'd consider me a visitor in this wonderful country of great diversity (-- something that I have to say that I really, really value). That whatever would happen I'd view it as "their thing" and remember that my status is officially a non-resident alien.

Maybe the reason is just the same that has gotten the rest of the world so interested about these elections. Maybe it's because five years is almost half of my adulthood years. Maybe it's because I have to admit that in the phases of cultural adaptation I've gone over the ups and downs enough many times that I think I have to admit that I've adapted quite well. .. I have to add that in the scene that I live in five years makes me practically a native here.

I also have to add and admit/confess that I've learned to profoundly like this country in a number of ways. Yes, it surely has its annoyances. No doubt about that. And there surely are a number of things that I flat out don't like about this country. But I could say the same for my dear Finland.

I'll spare my sporadic reader(s?) from details for now. I'll just make this an election day blog opener. That is, a post to get things started. I've "promised" myself way too many times before that I'd start blogging about my experiences here. It's about time now. "Kuparinen rikki" as one could say in Finnish.

To close the post off, I'd like to share two excellent video clips and some links. The videos are embedded below and the links are pointers to my link collection in the social bookmarking service Delicious, which I warmly recommend to everybody. Don't be a beggar - share your stuff!
* A video interview about me and the elections in the main newspaper of Finland, the Helsingin Sanomat a week and a half ago
* My links on the presidential elections including pretty much all related links that I've bookmarked, and those related to Obama.

An excellent 30 minute Obama "infomercial" that I think concludes Obama's campaign very nicely


and a good 4 minute "Analysis of Barack Obama's 30 Minute Commercial" by The Young Turks.

And finally, a brilliant, brilliant humorist speech by Obama at the traditional Alfred E. Smith Foundation dinner gala in New York from a couple of weeks back.



See the second part of the speech, too. And consider McCain's speech as well.

P.S. My favorite poll tracker is Pollster.com and I was just recommended to check out the real-time electoral map of the Daily Kos.